First, a few disclaimers... I am not advocating any acts such
as these. I am merely showing how absurdly vulnerable to terrorism we
are. While I tell folks how easy big trucks are to hotwire, I'm not
going to explain how to release the brakes and put a truck, train, or
whatever into motion.
So... what if you were a terrorist of whatever stripe,
wanting to do some damage. Let's assume they've actually secured air
transport (they haven't).
No problem- what does a terrorist need to make a very big bang? Fuel,
an ignition source, and maybe a delivery mechanism.
Fuel is easy to come by, we are a society powered by fossil
fuels and they're all over the place. A car with a half full gas tank
is the equivalent of a small bomb, just think what you can do with a
tank truck or railcar(s) full! And gasoline is just one of the milder
petrochemicals, some of them burn or propagate much better. Some are
poisons too, but I'll save that for a later post. Within the
corporate limits of Minneapolis you'll find no shortage of trucks,
trailers, railcars, and even a couple of tank farms of highly
explosive fuel. How do several rows of multithousand pound tanks
sound? We got 'em, and one's a little to close to me for comfort. It
is unguarded, and the fence would present little challenge.
Ignition sources aren't too hard to find. With lights and
cigarettes and open flames everywhere our terrorist probably won't
even need to provide one. Transportation isn't too hard either.
Simpler yet, our terrorist could merely rely on the wind to
distribute a flammable gas. Or the sewer system to deliver a heavier
than air liquid. Need a truck? Hotwire it- most have no steering
column locks or theft alarms. But trucks limit you to a mere 25 tons
or so of fuel... perhaps you need a trainload? Rail tankcars can
carry up to 100 tons of fuel each, and a cut of a dozen or more full
ones can usually be found in a siding in or near our fair city. You
may need a locomotive or two, but they're even easier to steal than
trucks. So you've got a few stolen locomotives and a dozen or so cars
of high test. Just wait for the desired wind direction, line your
switches for the desired route, and highball!
Again, I write not to incite to violence but rather to make
us question. Why are trucks and trains left so poorly secured? Why
aren't many railroad facilities even protected by a cheesy fence. We
are a nation at war, a form of war that we are quite unfamiliar with.
We can blow any nation we want off the face of the earth, but have no
defense against an enterprising two bit terrorist. Before we can
defeat terrorism we must first be able to defend our own cities,
never mind our shores.
peace,
Dyna Sluyter from Hawthorne
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